Worcestershire failed to rid themselves of their one-day woes as National League leaders Essex sentenced them to a fifth limited-over defeat on the trot.

Ronnie Irani's side, who only went top with Friday night's win over Gloucestershire, kept up the form that has seen them win all their six league matches this season. And they proved too strong for Steve Rhodes' side in most departments.

The notable exception was Stephen Peters, who responded well to his recall to Worcestershire's National League side for the first time in ten months.

Peters, who was one of the most notable casualties of the latter days of the Tom Moody era, looked in very good nick after a three-week rest following his demotion from the County Championship side. And his unbeaten 41 off 47 balls was the highest individual score of the game.

It was certainly enough of a loaded message to his old coach to send to Sri Lanka, via the departing Chaminda Vaas, who returns to Colombo later this week.

But Peters' efforts sadly came too late to help Worcestershire rescue anything. And it probably said everything that so many home supporters drifted off the bar to watch England beat Australia - an England side, it should be pointed out, which contained Worcestershire captain Vikram Solanki batting No 8, Gareth Batty serving the drinks and Kabir Ali putting his feet up in the pavilion. What a difference that trio would have made at New Road.

After getting the key wicket of Irani in only the third over, Worcestershire had to be a touch disappointed that the visitors should run up more than 200.

Will Jefferson, Alastair Cook, Ravinder Bopara and Ryan ten Doeschate all make useful contributions, as a badly-weakened home attack failed to rein them in.

Overseas duo Vaas and Ray Price proving the most economical. But fit-again David Leatherdale's figures would have matched them had not the clumsy Price - never the tidiest of fielders - spilled a routine boundary catch off James Middlebrook over the boundary for six.

It was not a piece of outcricket to compare with the brilliant piece of stumping with which Jamie Pipe got rid of Ashley Cowan late on in the innings.

Standing up to paceman Nadeem Malik, Cowan missed one which whistled just past leg stump and Pipe whipped off the bails with all the speed of Rhodes in his prime.

Stand-in skipper Graeme Hick sprang a surprise by promoting himself to opener as part of a reshuffle of their batting order.

Initially, it looked a success as he and Stephen Moore put on 66 for the first wicket. But Hick guided one to slip, Moore followed him when he got too fine a contact to an attempted leg glance, and it did not prove to be the day for either Zander De Bruyn or Ben Smith as both were caught behind off Bopara.

Leatherdale's stumping was a big blow. But, when Vaas and Pipe went in the space of three balls, Peters had simply run out of support and the end result was inevitable.